Page 31 - Overcoming Addiction

These early disciples were blessed if they believed and confessed those things
that Christ accomplished through His death and resurrection. Since that day a
much greater number of men and women have had to manifest faith in those
things that they have not personally seen.

John 20:29
Yahshua says to him, “Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have
believed; blessed are those who not having seen, have believed.”

The faith to believe is not something that we can manufacture, nor is it
present in the heart of all men and women. The faith to believe is given to
mankind as a gift from God.

Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

This verse testifies that faith is a gift given to mankind by God. Other verses
bear witness to this truth.

Philippians 1:29
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him,
but also to suffer for His sake...

God grants to some the faith to believe, while others are not granted this
same gift during this age. Even as God is the only One who can provide a solution
to mankind’s problem with sin, He is also the initiator of reconciliation between
God and man. He must choose to draw men to Himself, or no man would ever
come to Him. He alone chooses those to whom He will display His mercy in this
age.

John 6:44
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him...”

Romans 9:15-18
For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it does not depend
on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy... So
then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

Are you sensing the Spirit of Christ drawing you to the Father, urging you to
be reconciled to God through the blood of Christ? Do you have the faith to believe
that Yahshua, the Son of God, is God’s provision to release you from sin’s captivity
and to pay the penalty of your sin? Then God has granted you a great gift, and now
is the time to receive that gift.
Do not say, “I believe these things to be true, but I may wait until a later time
to confess these things and begin to obey God.” If you reject the gift of faith today,